Cow Dung and Anaerobic Digestion

To get biogas, farmers are creating their own, by using cow dung and building a bio-digester. 

The end products are also a good source of fertilizer for crops. Making their own biogas saves hundreds of US$ per year in fuel costs for fuel that is used to run small water pumps.

Introduction

A biogas digester plant relies on bacterial decomposition of biomass, waste material which is biological in origin, ranging from kitchen scraps to cow dung. 

As anyone who has walked past a poorly maintained outhouse or compost pile is aware, when anaerobic conditions develop in a collection of biomass, they attract bacterial organisms which emit a number of distinctive gases.

These are most notably methane, which is produced in the process of digestion. These gases are usually viewed as a symptom of inefficiency and they are vented away for disposal, but they can actually be very useful.

Why is Cow Dung Often Used to Start Up Biogas Digesters?

Most biogas digesters use cow dung to produce biogas. There are many other organic materials as mentioned above that can be used to produce biogas. Like left over food scraps, vegetation etc.

For this reason, cow dung is commonly used to start the process of biogas production. You can change the organic material to be used to produce biogas after the production has been kicked off by cow dung.

How Much Biogas is Produced?

A one-cubic-meter digester, primed with cow dung to provide bacteria, can convert the waste generated by a four-person family into enough gas to cook all its meals and provide sludge for fertilizer. 

A model this size costs about $425 but many testimonials suggest that such a facility will pay for itself in energy savings in less than two years. 

Admittedly, that's still a high price for most Indians, even though the government recently agreed to subsidize about a third of the cost for these family-sized units.

For the equipment to produce gas, the digester is filled halfway with bio-degradable materials, like cow dung mixed with water in equal ratio. It is then refilled with smaller amount every day, or at intervals no longer than to 2 weeks. The equipment can start producing gas after seven days.

Gober Gas

Gober gas (also spelled gobar gas, from the Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi word gober for cow dung) is biogas generated from cow dung. 

A gober gas plant is an airtight circular pit made of concrete with a pipe connection. First, manure is dumped in the pit. Then, water or wastewater is added to the manure and the concoction is sealed in the airtight concrete pit with a gas pipe leading to stove unit in the kitchen serving as the only egress for gas. When the control valve on the gas pipe is opened the biogas is combusted for cooking in a largely odourless and smokeless manner.

The image above shows the fixed dome digester design often used for cow dung, chicken manure and human excreta. 

Fixed Dome Digesters

Fixed dome plants were chosen because they can last for over fifty years and they are easily insulated and scum fosrmation is less due to the digester slurry that is displaced (pushed out) by incoming feed (influent). 

A fixed dome digester is an underground biogas digester lined with brick, with a dome-shaped cover made from concrete. The cover is fixed and held in place with earth piled over the top to resist the pressure of the gas inside. A second pit, the slurry reservoir, is built above and to the side of the digester.

Final  Size of the Biogas Plant

The size of the biogas plant is to be decided based on availability of raw material. It is generally said that, average cattle yield is about 10 kg dung per day. For eg. the average gas production from dung may be taken as 40 lit/kg. of fresh dung. The total dung required for production of 3 m3 biogas is 3/0.04= 75 kgs. Hence, a minimum of 4 cattle is required to generate the required quantity of cow dung.

A one-cubic-meter digester, primed with cow dung to provide bacteria, can convert the waste generated by a four-person family into enough gas to cook all its meals and provide sludge for fertilizer. A model this size costs about $425 but will pay for itself in energy savings in less than two years. That's still a high price for most Indians, even though the government recently agreed to subsidize about a third of the cost for these family-sized units.

Anaerobic Digestion in Germany - Deutschland Biogas Industry Outlook

The Anaerobic digestion market throughout the years has actually encountered varied applications throughout agriculture, metropolitan, and food & drink sectors.

Business owners and farmers across the region have in reality taken on these technologies to set up a foreseeable earnings stream and power resource with the purpose being to decrease dependence on mineral plant foods and fossil gas.

In addition, the food as well as drink market has actually welcomed the modern technology to refine its residue in an ecological acceptable manner and preventing landfill cost.

The European Union identifies the demand to support organisations to introduce.

EISENMANN is an instance of an effective German biogas tools making company. It is also well recognized as one of the leading global distributors of general ending up technology, product flow automation, environmental modern technology including Biogas in addition to ceramics and also thermal handling innovation.

Products of this company include blowers, exhausters, vacuum pumps and compressors looked for all sorts of gasses.

One good practice to study is the Green Gas Initiative in Europe. This is a joint commitment among the gas transmission system operators of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland to "green" the gas grid through biomethane integration. www.businesstimes.com.sg

Most of the current biogas production is currently located in Germany, which hosts 9,500 or so biogas plants, more than half the total number of installations currently in operation across the EU.

But the industry has big ambitions for the future, with France and Italy now seen as the new European leaders. A study commissioned by Gas for Climate, an industry consortium, claims production in Europe could skyrocket to 98 bcm of biomethane by 2050 – a 4,800% increase on current levels. via www.euractiv.com

6 Ways to Get Anaerobic Digestion Finance - Sources of Funds for Biogas ...

Anaerobic Digestion Finance Mechanisms Pros and Cons

Keep watching and in under 5 minutes you will learn from this video 6 popular ways to arrange for your Anaerobic Digestion project finance, with the main advantages of each method and disadvantages.

The funding approaches we are about to describe, are not mutually exclusive.; a mixture of different approaches may be adopted.

Funding Instrument 1 - Private Equity Financing

This involves an investor who is willing to fund all or a portion of the project in return for a share of project ownership.

Private equity financing has the advantages of lower transaction costs and usually the ability to move ahead faster than with other financing approaches.
However, private equity financing can be more expensive.

Funding Instrument 2 - Project Finance

Project Finance is a popular method for financing private power projects in which lenders look to a project’s projected revenues, rather than the assets of the developer, to ensure repayment.

This approach allows developers to retain ownership control of the project while obtaining financing. Disadvantages of project finance are high transaction costs and a lender’s high minimum investment threshold.

Funding Instrument 3 - Municipal Bond Financing

Municipal Bond Financing is applicable for municipal projects such as municipally owned landfills and municipal end users. It may also be possible to use this bond type to fund landfill gas extraction and utilization projects.

This involves the local government issuing tax-preferred bonds to finance the Anaerobic Digestion, or LFG energy project. This approach (if available) is the most cost-effective way to finance a project because the interest rate is low and the terms can often be structured for long repayment periods.

However, municipalities can face barriers to issuing bonds, and therefore it may be better to look at:

Funding Instrument 4 - Direct Municipal Funding

Direct Municipal Funding, possibly the lowest-cost financing available other than Municipal Bonds, uses the operating budget of the city, county, landfill authority or other municipal government to fund the project.

This approach eliminates the need to obtain outside financing or project partners, and it avoids delays caused by the extensive project evaluations usually required by lenders or partners.

However, many municipalities may not have a budget that is sufficient to finance a project, or may have many projects competing for scarce resources.

Delays and complications may also arise if public approval is required.

Funding Instrument 5 - Lease Financing

Lease Financing provides a means for the project owner or operator to lease all or part of the energy project assets.

This arrangement usually allows the transfer of tax benefits or credits to an entity that can best make use of them.

Lease arrangements can allow for the user to purchase the assets or extend the lease when the term of the lease has been fulfilled.

The benefit of lease financing is that it frees up capital funds of the owner or operator but allowing them control of the project.

The disadvantages include complex accounting and liability issues and loss of tax benefits to the project owner or operator.

Finally, there may be the possibility of grant programs for some anaerobic digestion and renewable energy projects:

Funding Instrument 6 - Grant Programs

Grant Programs, offered by many federal and state programs may provide funding for LFG, biogas and anaerobic digestion energy projects.

Read our article at: https://anaerobic-digestion.com/anaerobic-digestion-finance

UK General Election December 2019 - Do This or Fail to Match 2017 Government Green Pledges A Challenge to the New Government

The news is just breaking that parliament is set to agree a UK General Election on 12 December 2019. The new government must act as below, or fail to match the green pledges already made by the 2017 Conservative Government.

So, Labour, Conservative, or Liberal politicians you must match these green pledges or better them on sustainable renewable energy and the environment! That's our challenge to the New Government. And, in view of the climate change imperative to act now, this is much more important than ever before!

ABDA issued the following PR on 23 October before parliament voted to suspend the Fixed Term Parliament Act today (30 October 2019).

"ADBA’s vision is to see the full potential of the UK AD industry realised so it can help the UK achieve its emissions targets and other policy goals, creating a truly circular economy."

Press Release:

Anaerobic digestion trade association submits proposals to Government ahead of the Budget

Letter to Chancellor highlights the industry's potential towards achieving the Government's Net Zero emissions target and the impact of uncertainty on the sector.

Priorities set out by ADBA include better cross-departmental working to ensure coordinated policy and support towards the implementation of separate food waste collections, a new funding system and dedicated Research & Innovation infrastructure for the industry.

Charlotte Morton of ADBA

UK AD industry has potential to reduce UK greenhouse gases emissions by 5%.

With the UK needing to show leadership on ultra low carbon technologies as President of the 2020 UN Framework Convention for Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has written to Chancellor Sajid Javid ahead of the next Budget announcement, setting out the industry's views on the policies needed to stimulate growth of the anaerobic digestion (AD) sector and fulfil its potential to reduce some of the hardest-to-decarbonise emissions.  

Currently, AD is predominantly recognised for its role in generating green energy.

But AD also prevents methane emissions from organic wastes left to break down in landfill – and there is a huge untapped potential for methane capture, use and conversion with millions of tonnes of organic wastes from farming, food and sewage currently not being treated through AD.
In addition, AD treatment of organics recovers nutrients to fertilise depleted soils and improve their ability to sequester carbon.

The Treasury has been tasked with coordinating government efforts to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050.  The AD has the potential to cut UK emissions by 5% across multiple sectors and therefore needs policy incentives applied across multiple Government departments (namely BEIS, Treasury, DEFRA, and Transport) to operate effectively.   Good cross-departmental policy coordination is therefore essential to enable the industry to grow and achieve widespread emission abatement.  This is a key ask from ADBA, which also lists the following priorities:

The Government must provide clear financial parameters to Local Authorities (LAs) to implement the mandatory separate food waste collections by 2023 stated in the Resources & Waste Strategy – which features a clear preference for inedible food waste to be recycled through AD.

It is vital that LAs are fully supported with set up costs that include funding the development of infrastructure to enable LAs to do so. Government must clarify its financial support as a matter of urgency, especially as around 70 LAs will be signing new waste contracts in the time period leading to the separate food waste collections implementation deadline.

The Budget must commit to an interim pot of funding for biomethane plant deployment similar to the Renewable Heat Incentive, which is due to come to an end in March 2021, while a future funding mechanism is developed (the Feed- In-Tariff has already closed, the lack of a floor price makes the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation an unstable alternative to support biomethane plant deployment, Contracts-for-Difference support the larger AD plants whilst many in the sector are small, and the Smart Export Guarantee does not provide price certainty, or consider the wider, non-energy benefits of AD).

It is critical that the Budget commits additional support for AD for 2021 and beyond.

The Government must support AD innovation to make it financially autonomous. Enclosed in ADBA's letter to the Chancellor was the trade association's proposal for a virtual Centre for Anaerobic Biotechnology and Bioresources Research (CABB) to develop new waste management technologies, that would not only boost British exports, but also transform the sector’s performance and eliminate the need for subsidies in the future.  CABB's objective is to transform AD into a low-cost, multifunctional biotechnology and a key ingredient in developing integrated processes to deliver future energy and resources provision.

ADBA's Chief Executive Charlotte Morton said:

"As a result of enjoying consistent policy and funding support, the wind and solar industries have become extremely cost-effective and are now established as part of the renewable energy mix. AD should be given the same fair treatment, to put the sector on the ‘glide path’ to no subsidy, as costs come down and innovation drives cost savings across the industry.

The UK AD sector has grown by over 350% over the last ten years and established itself as a world leader with UK companies exporting biogas-related expertise and equipment. However, the current timeline for the Greening the Gas Grid consultation is unlikely to provide the urgent continuity necessary to stimulate further industry growth. 

The sector's progress has already effectively stalled due to the lack of policy certainty, and there is a real risk of losing expertise if there is an ongoing gap in policy provision. Meanwhile, with CABB, we could supercharge our industry and put it at the cutting edge of agricultural science.

We await the Budget next month with interest and are continuing our discussions with the Treasury and BEIS on our proposals in advance of its publication."

http://adbioresources.org/

- ENDS -

Advantages of Biofuel: The New Sustainable Oil-Fields Of Tomorrow

Biofuels play a major part in the renewable energy strategy of Denmark.

Denmark is using biofuel to achieve its target of using 100% renewable energy for all energy uses by 2050. In this, biofuels provide a large share of he future energy sources in Denmark. Especially when considering all sectors of energy demand in conjunction with Denmark's highly developed renewable energy resources.

The main sources of biofuels in Denmark include:

• wood and wood products
• energy from waste straw
• biogas biodiesel and bioethanol.

Biofuels have the potential to provide environmental and economic benefits, but they must be carefully managed to ensure that they are truly sustainable resources.

There is the potential for economic and environmental damage if biofuels are not used responsibly. Biofuel use in Europe must be certified by the EU Commission before biofuels can be recorded as sustainable resources, and used for national renewable energy targets.

The oil shocks of the 1970s severely impacted Denmark as about 90% of its energy use then came from oil. The majority of that oil was imported. So, the government was thus compelled to rethink its energy portfolio.

It shifted the focus of its energy plans as a result biomass for bioenergy started being incentivized. Even way back then, it was promoted as a renewable energy source, and an alternative to fossil fuels. Denmark's aim was to reduce the oil dependency and to secure energy supplies.

That's an objective that has remained relevant in the progression of the country's energy policy to this day.

The prospect of the creation of new jobs in the utilization of waste products also factored into Denmark's decision to start using biomass, consequently the use of biomass in the Danish energy system has continuously grown.

In the last decade bio energy consumption in Denmark has nearly doubled, increasing by more than a factor of 12 between 1970 and present day.

Over this period biomass has been predominantly used in the form of waste straw and wood.

Currently Denmark is striving to create an energy system by 2050 that is free of all fossil energy. so, bioenergy will likely play a key role in order to achieve this goal.

In addition, Denmark has since 1993 been increasing its development of large-scale combined heat and power plants.

CHP plants combust biomass and do it in a way that has achieved continuous technological improvements. Many improvements have been achieved over the past 20 years.

The Danish strategy to reduce emissions has also included retrofitting older coal-fired plants to make them biomass-fired.

They are investing heavily into research development and demonstration (RD&D) for converting agricultural residues into second generation 2g bio ethanol.

Bio ethanol which is then blended with gasoline for the transportation sector.

RD&D activities are also in place for biodiesel for shipping and Road Transport in agreement with the European Environment Agency, scientific committee.

Denmark considers environmental sustainability as a key component of its strategy to incorporate a greater share of biofuels into its energy portfolio. As such, it does not consider biomass produced from existent forests as carbon neutral. But, it counts waste.

Biomass has doubled in output towards its renewable energy target, thus favoring biomass grown on marginal land or sourced from residues. This way the country is able to ensure that it benefits from incorporating a larger share of biomass into its energy system.

Biomass sourced from plantations that have been converted from natural forest land then generates a net carbon benefit over fossil fuels.

Denmark's guidelines for utilising biomass for energy and transportation strive to ensure both environmental sustainability and efficiency aspects as a member state of the European Union (EU). Denmark is working under commitments from its directives which set targets for the amount of renewable energy within the national profiles including biofuels.

It is following the EU legislation. For example its renewable energy use should reach 100% by 2020.

However, Denmark has been highly proactive and ambitious in the targets it has set for its renewable energy in greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Such as aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Source: Wikipedia article.

Biogas Plants Must Comply with these 4 UK Regulations - PPC Compliance for Anaerobi...

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4 Essential UK Regulations All Biogas Plant Operators Must Observe

All anaerobic digestion plant operators in the UK must comply with the regulations concerning environmental protection, animal by-products, duty of care, health and safety and waste handling!

Keep reading! Please give us a little bit of your valuable time, and in 5 to 10 short minutes we will explain our list of 4 essential UK regulations all biogas plants must comply with.

Regulation 1. Environmental Permitting

Environmental Permitting (EP) is a scheme in England and Wales, for regulating business activities that could have an impact on the environment and human health. AD plant operators must obtain a permit, or an exemption to operate and to spread digestate, and show that you are competent to operate the plant.

There are three levels of permitting, a number of activities that entitle operators to an exemption.:

Exemptions are available for small scale biogas digesters which are classified as non-waste facilities, but you are still required to register with the Environment Agency and provide some technical information, although no charges apply.

If your activity is not exempt, the next step in rising permit complexity is the need for a Standard Permit.

These are simplified permits used for plants which fit within a number of pre-defined standard rules, including throughput, output and nature of material being digested and for this fixed charges apply.

If a biogas plant's method of operation doesn't fall within the rules they don't allow the adoption of a Standard Permit.

The next step-up in complexity, and charges, is a "Bespoke Permit", (in this instance variable charges apply).

This process is more costly and time consuming, but provides greater coverage and flexibility in plant operations. Permits may also be required for Spreading Digestate.

Designing an AD Plant which is shown to comply with the PAS 110 Quality Protocol can become important to reduce the degree of regulatory involvement.

Material that has been processed to PAS 110 and Quality Protocol standards is no longer regarded as a waste.

However, to spread waste material (prior to achieving PAS 110 accreditation) to agricultural and non-agricultural land to confer benefit or ecological improvement, you will still have to apply for a permit or register for an exemption.

If you do not fit the criteria for an exemption there is a Standard Rule Permit, for spreading waste material to land, and a fee will be charged.

Seeding new AD Plants may also require a permit or exemption, during plant start-up.

Regulation 2. Animal By-Products Regulations

Animal by-products (ABPs) are animal carcasses, parts of carcasses or products of animal origin that are not intended for human consumption. The Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR) permit the treatment in approved composting and biogas premises of low-risk (category 3) ABPs and catering waste which contains meat or which comes from a premises handling meat.

High risk (Category 2) ABPs such as manure and digestive tract content, cannot be used as feedstock in biogas plants, except, after the output has been treated to special pressure-rendering standards.

Further information is available from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (A.P.H.A.).

Regulation 3. Duty of Care

The duty of care is a law which says you must take all reasonable steps to keep waste safe. You have a legal responsibility to ensure that you produce, store, transport and dispose of waste without harming the environment. Duty of care law is available at the UK Government Defra and Environment Agency websites.

Regulation 4. Health and Safety at Work Regulations

Anaerobic digestion can be regarded as a chemical process with all the associated risks: flammable atmospheres, fire and explosion, toxic gases, confined spaces, asphyxiation, pressure systems, COSHH, etc.

In addition, it also incorporates gas handling and gas storage.

Therefore, it is essential that thorough hazard and risk assessments are carried out at each stage of any biogas plant project from design to installation to commissioning to implementation and operation.

Thanks for reading this and we hope you found this article useful.

At IPPTS associates consultants; we offer our services to help you comply with all of these regulations, provided that you have a budget for our work: https://ipptsassociates.co.uk/services/

Tipos de planta de biogás - Qué sucede en una planta de biogás

Tipos de planta de biogás - Qué sucede en una planta de biogás Explicación de la digestión anaerobia.

5 tipos de plantas de biogás: los diseños de plantas DA más comunes en los Estados Unidos.

Siga buscando nuestros 5 mejores tipos de diseño de plantas de digestión anaeróbica en los Estados Unidos., Enumerados en orden de popularidad.

Tipo 1. Laguna anaeróbica cubierta

En un diseño de laguna anaeróbica cubierta, el metano se recupera y se canaliza al dispositivo de combustión desde una laguna después de que se recoge debajo de una cubierta flexible.

Aquí hay un diagrama de una laguna anaerobia cubierta que muestra 2 células.

La primera celda retiene el influente del digestor y atrapa el biogás y la segunda celda recoge el efluente del digestor.

Algunos sistemas usan una sola celda, como se muestra aquí, para la digestión y el almacenamiento combinados, y otros tienen múltiples celdas.

Aquí hay otra fotografía de este tipo de diseño de planta DA.

Tipo 2. Digestor de flujo de enchufe

Los digestores de flujo de tapón se utilizan principalmente en operaciones de lácteos que recolectan estiércol mediante raspado.

Los sistemas de flujo de tapón se han utilizado en una amplia variedad de operaciones, ya que pueden tolerar una gama más amplia de concentraciones de sólidos.

Aquí hay un diagrama de un digestor de flujo de tapón que muestra el influente del digestor entrando y fluyendo a través del digestor, con el biogás siendo capturado y almacenado debajo de una cubierta.

Este ejemplo muestra otro digestor de flujo de tapón con una cubierta de membrana de plástico flexible.

Este ejemplo muestra un digestor de flujo de tapón con una cubierta rígida.

Tipo 3. Mezcla completa de plantas de biogás

También se denominan CSR o reactores de agitación continua.

Los digestores completamente mezclados están diseñados con un tanque cerrado y calentado con un sistema mecánico, hidráulico o de mezcla de gases.

Los digestores de mezcla completa funcionan mejor cuando hay una cierta dilución del estiércol excretado con agua (por ejemplo, aguas residuales del centro de ordeño).

Aquí hay un diagrama de un digestor mixto completo, que ilustra el proceso de agregar estiércol al digestor; mezclar, calentar y almacenar el biogás dentro del digestor; y extraer el efluente resultante.

Aquí hay una foto de dos tanques de digestor de mezcla completa con un agitador montado en la pared.

Aquí hay una foto de un mezclador montado externamente, en una estructura de soporte.

¡Ya estamos a la mitad de este video! ¡Sigue mirando! ¡Es posible que no haya oído hablar de estos tipos de plantas de biogás antes!

Tipo 4. Digestores por lotes.

Un digestor por lotes es la forma más simple de digestión, donde el estiércol se agrega al reactor al comienzo del proceso como un lote. El reactor se llena y el reactor permanece cerrado durante la duración del proceso.

Tipo 5. Reactores combinados inducidos.

Estos también se conocen como UASBR (Reactores de flujo de lodo anaeróbico ascendente). Estos son digestores en los que se desarrolla una capa de lodo y retiene las bacterias anaerobias, proporcionando un ambiente rico en bacterias a través del cual debe pasar la materia prima.

Fuente: sitio web de US Agstar.

https://www.epa.gov/agstar/how-does-anaerobic-digestion-work#coproducts

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EU Biogas Trends in 2019 - 6 Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Industry Trends

Biogas Trends for 2019 and Predicted Developments in the Anaerobic Digestion Industry in Europe

The European Biogas Association (EBA) has predicted the biogas trends for 2019, taking into account current EU priorities, and the technical developments in the sector.

Trend 1. Biogas growth to continue in electricity, heat and especially biomethane production.

In June 2018 the EU institutions agreed on a new Renewable Energy Directive for the next decade, including a legally-binding EU-wide target of 32% for renewable energy by 2030.

The European biogas sector had a total of 17,783 biogas plants and an electricity production of 65,179 GWhr in 2017.

In Europe it will be the number of biomethane plants (which upgrade biogas to biomethane) with grid-injection and biomethane liquification, which will continue to grow fastest.

Biomethane plant numbers have already risen from 187 plants in 2011, up to a total of 540 plants in 2017, in the most recent data available.

Trend 2. More efficient added-value will be extracted by generating income from the whole biogas production process.

Currently, anaerobic digestion (AD) plants are mainly considered to be energy producers (electricity, heat and biomethane).

There are many more benefits of AD, which are not yet fully exploited to produce financial revenues.

Anaerobic digestion can be used to produce organic fertilizers and help save GHG emissions, process organic waste and act as a very flexible source of renewable energy.

Trend 3. Integration into the EU circular economy

The main expected trend for the biogas and biomethane sectors in the upcoming years will be a better integration into the EU circular economy.

Digestate, the output of the digestion process, is an example of this trend.

It will become more widely accepted and used as organic fertilizer.

Thereby, replacing the energy-intensive production of traditional non-renewable sourced fertilizers.

In this regard it is notable that the European Parliament, Council and Commission recently agreed upon the "Fertilizing Products Regulation", which will open the market for organic fertilizers.

Trend 4. There will be moves toward seasonal biogas energy storage

As the share of renewables and intermittent energy sources grows in Europe, the demand for flexible energy production is increasing. Biogas and biomethane will be likely to be stored to overcome seasonal variations in energy demand.

Trend 5. Better AD Plant local integrations

The integration of biogas and biomethane plants in their local environment will improve. Plants will take better advantage of location-specific opportunities.

Value-added opportunities from the end-products (CO2-gas, organic fertilizer and CHP) will be better integrated with neighbours.

Making anaerobic digestion facilities a better neighbours, and reducing concerns of local citizens.
For example, the CO2-gas flow that remains after upgrading biogas to biomethane, will more often be used as a nutrient source in nearby horticulture.

It will be delivered in simple underground pipelines, and to be distributed longer distances, the CO2-gas trend will be for increased liquification.

Trend 6. Combined heat and power production (CHP) will rise

Another upcoming trend will be the use of combined heat and power production (CHP) from electric power generation, to meet local heat demands.

The high value of such renewable gas will gain further recognition with biomethane being used for the same end-user applications as natural gas.

Three additional European countries (Belgium, Estonia and Ireland) connected their first biomethane plant to their national gas grid, in 2018.

This resulted in a total number of European biomethane producing countries of 18.

Finally, the "European Renewable Gas Registry" (ERGaR) is working to implement a European-wide administration system which will allow cross-border trade of biomethane.

If successful this is expected to boost the biomethane sector still further.

Source: An interpretation of a European Biogas Association article "Biogas Trends for this Year".

Comments on Interpretation

My main problem in writing the script for this video was understanding the word "valorisation" which is used in the original article.

It is a term with strong left-wing origins and using it is to be very insensitive to the issues surrounding the UK and Brexit.

I think the way it is used is simply an error, probably due to a lack of knowledge of the use of English, during translation from what was probably a German language original text.

With that in mind, I decided to assume that I would follow Wikipedia and defined "valorisation" as a miss-translation of the German word "Verwertung".

The general meaning of "Verwertung" (according to Wikipedia) is the productive use of a resource, and more specifically the use or application of something (an object, process or activity) so that it makes money, or generates value, with the connotation that the thing validates itself and proves its worth when it results in earnings, a yield.

I am sure EBRA would not wish to be seen as a Marxist organisation. I would be interested in the views of others about this.

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Aerobic Digestion and Anaerobic Digestion Compared

That's the subject of our recent article on our main blog.

The Differences Between Aerobic Digestion and Anaerobic Digestion are described in our educational video above.

Visit: https://blog.anaerobic-digestion.com/...
for the full article.
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Anaerobic Digester Feedstocks Types and Sustainable Uses

The Amazing Realities of the Humble Anaerobic Digester

For a biogas digester to produce gas, it just requires seeding with methane-producing bacteria. This isn't hard because these exist all around us.

Biogas is generated by the breaking down of natural, biodegradable waste or product (also called biomass) such as veggies, leaves, grass, weeds, remaining food scraps as well as such.

It's called a digester because the natural product is consumed as well as digested by bacteria to generate biogas.

Organic feedstocks are very flexible, varying from farm manures and also crops, to sewage sludge and also event catering wastes and also food wastes (consisting of raw and also cooked food, consisting of meat items).

The REA has been involved in campaigning for the manufacturing of biogas in the UK considering that 2001 as well as formed the Biogas Sector Group in 2004.

Every tonne of food waste reused by anaerobic food digestion as an option to garbage dumping that material avoids in between 0.5 and 1.0 tonne of CARBON DIOXIDE going into the environment, one of the numerous benefits of anaerobic food digestion.

What Can Go Into a Digester?

Anything natural can be fed to the digester supplied it's naturally degradable and also has very percentages of cellulose. Other common natural products made use of in biogas digesters consist of sewer, glycerin, algae and also lawns. After the methane-producing microorganisms is presented, the microorganisms will reproduce and the procedure continues definitely, and there is no risk that the bacteria will certainly die.

Diversified farming nowadays is everything about sustainable renewable energy, from discussing green energy resources, to products, services, and innovation advancements in this field.

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A typical anaerobic digestion plant (digester) creates as much as 1,900 m3/hr of enriched biomethane by cleansing.

Also, many are updating the methane-rich biogas created from the anaerobic food digestion of waste.

Like natural gas, biogas is made use of as a gas to create electricity to power farm equipment, for lights applications, in gas stoves for food preparation, and also for transport.

Not Just a Large Tank with a Glossy Plastic Dome Over It!

A biogas digester (also known as a biogas plant) is a large tank where inside biogas is created with the decomposition/breakdown of raw material through a process called anaerobic food waste digestion.

Biogas Upgrading

Biogas can additionally be cleaned as well as upgraded to create pressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

CNG as well as LNG can be utilized to fuel vehicles and also cars and trucks. All anaerobic food digestion systems stick to the same basic concepts whether the feedstock is food waste, pet manures or wastewater sludge. The systems may have some differences in style but the procedure is generally the very same.

A Proportion of Carbon Dioxide - Always Found in Raw Biogas - Needs Removing from the Gas

A percentage of CO2 is always found in biogas when it is formed. It has to be removed during upgrading as there is none in natural gas LNG.

After removing the CO2 (as well as various other trace gases using a variety of methods in a procedure referred to as upgrading) the continuing to be methane is known as Renewable Gas or Biomethane.

The Coevorden (BEC) bio-digester, which provided the very first cubic meters of eco-friendly gas to Gasunie's nationwide gas network, is an example of an upgraded biogas supply.

One cubic metre of biogas at 60% methane material converts to 6.7 kWh energy.

After the gas is gotten rid of the slurry will certainly flow back right into the container it remained in at first.

Biogas is extensively made use of in homes around the world, particularly in nations where this modern technology has been extensively readily available and made use of.


As an example, in Europe companies such as ENER-G deal small CHP (4kWe to over 10MWe) from biogas, with around 170MWe currently set up.

Natural Fertilizer Output Enhances Soil Quality

The digester upgrades the biogas to biomethane (~ 98%; 1.5% nitrogen). The gas to grid plant at Bristol Sewage Treatment Works was the initial and largest of its kind.

The upgrading method prevents biomass transportation problems, in contrast with present biorefineries, while effectively valorizing decentralized biomass feedstocks such as agricultural waste or energy plants.

City of Oslo Digester Plant

Another example is the biogas digester plant which is operated behalf of EGE (Waste-to-Energy Agency) and the City of Oslo. Sweden is a globe leader in upgrading and use biomethane for transportation, and has lots of 'biogas lorries', including private cars, buses, as well as even a biogas train and a biogas powered exploring automobile group.

Gas is commonly used as a transportation fuel in lots of European nations, especially Italy, which flaunts 650,000 gas powered lorries.

A recently funded research study program on fuel will assess the opportunity of making use of biogas as a fuel for compression ignition engines of non-road cars as well as tractor makers of plant utilized in agriculture.

Gas Injected to the Natural Gas Grid

Biomethane made from biogas is slightly lower in calorific value than natural gas. To supply all users fairly it needs to be supplemented with a higher calorific gas. Propane from cylinders is the usual solution.

However, some biogas plant operators are finding ways to avoid this unwanted use of a fossil-derived fuel by improving the calorific value their digester supplies.

This enriches the gas to natural gas quality and calorific worth.

After enrichment the biogas generated from the digesters then enters the gas to grid plant.

Sewage Treatment Sludge from Wastewater Treatment (Sewage Works)

Sewer sludge as well as food waste is dealt with and pumped right into a collection of anaerobic digesters.

Sewage Works biogas from sludge provides the nationwide grid with sufficient gas to provide thousands of regional residences and also guarantee the sewer treatment works is energy self-sufficient.

This freely generated biomethane can, of course, after that be infused into the gas grid.

Anaerobic Digestion Plants UK What Are They? How Many Are There?

Update on the State of Anaerobic Digestion in the UK with the Latest Number of Operational Plants

Anaerobic digestion (AD) mostly uses existing waste feedstocks, at times partly with purpose-grown crops, helping to reduce carbon emissions from waste, energy use, agriculture, and any business with access to organic waste:

1. Waste: by converting it into less harmful forms, including reducing odors when spread on land
2. Heating: by providing hot water for heating buildings, drying crops etc
3. Electricity use: by providing renewable biogas for electricity generation
4. Agriculture: by providing biogas for use as fuel for farm machinery.
5. Any business: which creates waste organic material (biomass) or has access to it.

That’s why Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a key part of a low-carbon emissions future, in a circular economy that turns wastes into renewable resources.

Anaerobic Digestion's in the Production of Low-carbon Methane

AD has a potentially important role to play in the production of low-carbon methane.

When biogas is upgraded (purified) the “biomethane” output could meet 30% of the UK’s domestic gas demand.

At the same time this would abate 50 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide-equivalent over the next 25 years, as well as helping to provide energy and food security.

In the past 10 years, the AD industry has grown from a capacity of 170 megawatts electrical-equivalent (MWe-e) in to 899 MWe-e today.

There are 648 AD plants across the country, producing renewable energy and natural fertilizer.

AD Growth is Mostly in Biomethane Production

AD growth is currently most notable in biomethane, where around 30 new facilities are due to connect to the gas grid within the next couple of years, on the back of a tariff incentive under the UK government's Renewable Heat Incentive.

These new facilities should add enough additional capacity to power almost 200,000 homes each year.

Production of biomethane as a transport fuel is also being facilitated by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.

AD Facilities Growth in Recycling Inedible Food Waste

In addition. the number of AD facilities recycling inedible food waste is likely to grow over the next decade as more local authorities in England introduce separate food waste collections in the wake of legislation proposed in the Resources and Waste Strategy (published in Autumn 2018).

AOBA estimates that the amount of food waste diverted from landfill as a result could lead to 80 new food-waste AD facilities.

This would increase UK biogas industry Capacity by 187MWe-e (the equivalent of Fellside Power Station), reducing CHG by emissions by 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent - or 2.4 per cent.

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Are Diesel-Engine Car Owners in a Trap Which Forces them to Continue Running Polluting Vehicles?

Many unfortunate UK owners of diesel powered cars feel they have been duped into buying them by false "green" promises about diesel vehicles. 

They think that although they never sought to contribute to city air pollution, they are trapped into continuing to run their polluting vehicles. At least, they do resolve themselves not to take action until they trade in their current vehicle, often not until several years time.

It has been commonly accepted that if you own a diesel vehicle, not by your own preference, but having been encouraged to own a diesel by the government. You are left with no alternative but continue. 

Via Wikipedia - Donald Trung Quoc Don (Chữ Hán: 徵國單) - CC BY-SA 4.0

But, the fact is that you don't have to continue! You do have an alternative to using it, as is.  

You don't need to feel vaguely uncomfortable every day "doing the school run", knowing now what we do, about the health dangers to children from tiny "particulates" in your car's exhaust, for example

Running a polluting diesel is easy to put-right, and it need not cost you in the long term. It could even save you money.

As explained in our press release below, most diesel engines can be converted to run on liquid natural gas (LNG).

Having done that, owners would preferably run them on carbon neutral bio-LNG from anaerobic digestion. But, supplies aren't universally available, whereas LNG is.

LNG conversion, essentially by adding gas storage cylinders to your vehicle, costs a couple of thousand pounds. But, you’ll soon recover that at the pump in cheaper fuel, over 12-18 months (c.10,000 miles).

Increasing numbers of LNG filling stations are being opened. Information about that is here.

This was just one of the topics featured during the recent ADBA "Global outlook for biomethane and infrastructure development" event co-located with the World Biogas Summit earlier this month.

Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association - PRESS RELEASE (July 2019): 

Birmingham biogas trade event to show the way on Bio-LNG

Bristol City Mayor Martin Rees announced on Thursday last week [20 June 2019] a consultation on proposals to ban diesel cars from the city to tackle air pollution, which is now a bigger killer than tobacco and three times larger than Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

The UK government has said it will ban the sale of diesel cars from 2040. It would seem that if you own a diesel, having been encouraged to own a diesel by the government, you have been left in a no-win situation.  

Not so. Most diesel engines can be converted to run on liquid natural gas (LNG) – preferably carbon neutral bio-LNG from anaerobic digestion. It will cost a couple of thousand pounds but you’ll soon recover that at the pump over 12-18 months (c.10,000 miles).

There are over 20m LNG cars in the global fleet and, for HGVs, Bio-LNG is rapidly gaining traction as fuel – as it reduces CO2 emissions by over 85%, NOx emissions by 50-70%, and almost zero particulate matter. 

It has been found that fleet operators who switch to renewable natural gas (biomethane) more than exceed what is required under the benchmark minimum standard for emissions. Fuel savings are notable too. 

With costs that are typically 33% less – and in some instances, as much as 50% less – operators can see that biogas makes commercial sense. It means that the filling-station infrastructure is emerging too.

The shift makes economic sense.  London and Norwich have been taking the lead on the introduction of what are known either as Low Emissions Zones or Clean Air Zones with another 30 cities and local authorities across the UK set to introduce similar measures.

Under these schemes buses and HGVs failing to meet minimum standards face charges for entering the zones of £200 a day. Such zones are commonplace in cities across mainland Europe.

Meanwhile biomethane as fuel for transport has been boosted by an EU directive requiring Member states to ensure a sufficient number of publicly accessible refuelling points to allow the circulation of CNG vehicles both in urban and sub-urban areas and on the TeN-T core network, ideally every 150 km, to be built by end-2025.

Furthermore, the government’s Renewable Fuel Transport Obligation has increased the biofuels volume target, including biomethane, from the current 4.75% to 9.75% in 2020, and 12.4% in 2032.

 The future of Bio-LNG will be a key theme at both UK AD and World Biogas Expo 2019 and its co-located thought-leadership forum World Biogas Summit on 3rd-4th July in Birmingham.

CNHi Industrial will display its IVECO Stralis Natural Power truck and latest FPT Industrial Natural Gas engines, whilst New Holland will showcase the innovative Methane-Powered Concept Tractor, combining visionary design with advanced and sustainable biomethane combustion, a key element in the Energy Independent Farm™ concept, which sees farmers producing fuel from waste products.

 - Press Release Ends -

Other top topics during the 2019 Biogas Summit earlier this month were:

• UK Cities ramp up the fight against air pollution
• Bio-LNG gains traction as a solution to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles
• Prototype tractor and other vehicles on display at UK AD and World Biogas Expo

More information is available on the 2020 World Biogas Summit here.

Let's Make Biogas from Straw - Rika Biogas Bioextrusion® - Anaerobic Diggestion

Why not make biogas from straw! New extrusion process makes it possible that a good feedstock can be created through the far more rapid development of anaerobic digestion of straw.

Research Sources for the Bioextrusion Process

The Bioextruder can create totally new feedstock options such as straw and desiccated grasses, or increase the biogas yield of traditional substrates such as maize or grass silage.

Depending on the solution required Rika Biogas Technologies can also specify equipment that can increase yields, speed up digestion and remove extraneous materials. These items normally sit in line with the extruder to produce a fully integrated feeding and feedstock processing solution that ultimately reduces your running costs. www.bioextruder.co.uk

Bioextrusion was Originated by LEHMANN

The Process of "Bioextrusion research and development was begun by LEHMANN®"

[Bioextrusion] leads to the formation of new bacteria stains and an improved C/N-ratio, because celluloses and hemicelluloses is decomposed and liberated from the embedding lignin layer. The 5- and 6-times sugar is faster available. Low-molecular and fast transforming substances like alcohol and other compounds develop.

The Fraunhofer institute IKTS in Dresden and LEHMANN Maschinenbau GmbH Jocketa have investigated to to what extent these difficult substrates are suitable for biogas production. via www.lehmann-maschinenbau.de

New insights into the impact of bioextrusion on biomass deconstruction using carbohydrate-binding modules

Lignocellulosic biomass is a sustainable source of renewable substrate to produce low carbon footprint energy and materials. Biomass conversion is usually performed in two steps: a biomass pretreatment for improving cellulose accessibility followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. In this study we investigated the efficiency of a bioextrusion pretreatment (extrusion in the presence of cellulase enzyme) for production of reducing sugars from corn crop agricultural residues. Our results demonstrate that bioextrusion increased the reducing sugar conversion yield by at least 94% at high solid/liquid ratio (14%–40%). via www.sciencedirect.com

During the process the substrate is decomposed into its cell structure by a double-screw extruder with pressure with that high temperature and resulting of alternating load and multiple pressure/relaxation cycles in the machine. The biogas yield increases due to a better biochemical-availability and a strong enhanced surface area. The fiber is ideal culture medium of metabolizing bacteria.

This leads to the formation of new bacteria stains and an improved C/N-ratio, because celluloses and hemicelluloses is decomposed and liberated from the embedding lignin layer. The 5- and 6-times sugar is faster available. Low-molecular and fast transforming substances like alcohol and other compounds develop.

The sustainability and efficiency of biogas production is primarily determined by the substrate costs. It is necessary to exploit new substrates and to increase the energetic utilization ratio of the used substrates. Till now, highly lignocellulosic substrates or residues like straw or landscaping residue materials as "not used, or of limited use for biogas production".

The raw fibre is also degradable by bioextrusion. via www.energy-xprt.com

The transcription text of the video: "Let's Make Biogas from Straw" follows:

Video Transcription

Let's Make Biogas from Straw Not Field Crops.

Around 30 million tonnes of cereal straw are produced in Germany annually.

It has been estimated that 8 to 13 million tonnes of this could be used sustainably for different energetic paths of utilization.

Large quantities of straw are also produced in the UK, and throughout temperate climate regions globally.

Straw is one of the agricultural residues with the largest untapped potential for use as a biomass feed for biogas.

But, so far there has been only limited use of the energy in straw and what has been used has been based on thermal recovery, such as by pelletizing straw for domestic heating.

The disadvantages of this are the extremely large storage capacity needed for the dry material, as well as the high CO2 emissions from transport and processing.

In contrast, the use of straw in anaerobic digestion seems sensible.

The nutrients and organic matter, which was not converted into biogas in the fermentation process, are available again as a high-quality digestate after fermentation, with the resulting digestate available to sustain this as a cycle by, its use as a crop fertilizer.

But there is a problem with this. Straw has a very high content of lignocelluloses and a low portion of readily fermentable materials.

During the fermentation process, this causes very long digestion times and low biogas yield.

Also, straw tends to float in the digester, even after being shredded.

Unwanted floating layers can then easily become a mixing problem, again reducing biogas production.

While some digester mixers might be able to cope, the mixing energy used reduces the remaining energy which can be sold.

A Solution to Low Straw Biogas Yields

One German company has devised a solution which they call Bioextrusion®.

The treatment (extrusion) of the straw has 3 beneficial effects:

1 - It reduces the particle size (fibre length) for reduced viscosity and easier mixing.

2 - The lignocellulosic structure is partially destroyed and,

3 - At the same time, the absorptive capacity of the straw increases, and the floating behaviour of straw fibers inside the fermenter is much reduced.

After Bioextrusion® the straw is described as spreading almost perfectly in the operating volume of the fermenter.

The straw substrate which is modified by Bioextrusion® is then suitable for wet-fermentation in the standard CSTR process.

On arable farms, Bioextrusion® may also be used to raise biogas output from other crop residues such as maize.

Want to know more?

Visit their article about Rika Biogas Technologies at www.bioextruder.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1746 714 704

Text based upon pdfs at: https://www.bioextruder.co.uk/about
Also see the article about Straw as Feedstock for Biogas on our companion website here.